Stage 5

The road

At the start

A leg-breaker before Ronda

Michael Matthews defends red by eight seconds from Nairo Quintana, with Valverde, Urán and Caruso all inside twenty-one. Today twists 182 kilometres through the hills to Ronda and saves its only classified climb for fifteen kilometres from the line — long enough to hurt the sprinters, not hard enough to promise anything. The first summit finish comes tomorrow, so nobody wants to spend today.

How it was won

1. 159 km to go

   Froome steals two seconds

   At the second intermediate sprint Knees launches his leader and Froome takes the bunch — and FDJ, who were setting up Bouhanni — completely by surprise. Two bonus seconds, and a hint that the Sky leader isn't sure he can take them anywhere else.

2. 240 km to go

   Tinkoff turn the wind on

   The wind swings, Tinkoff-Saxo mass on the front and split the bunch. Arredondo, Hesjedal and Dan Martin are caught out; Martin fights his way back across, and panic spreads through the second group.

3. 315 km to go

   Ligthart's day ends

   The last survivor of the break is swallowed before the only classified climb of the stage, and the sprinters' teams take over for the uphill finish in Ronda.

4. 4At the line

   An argument in Ronda

   De Kort jumps too early at 200 metres, Degenkolb surfaces out of the middle of the bunch and takes it — and Bouhanni, boxed against the barriers, throws his arm up in fury rather than triumph. The jury hears his protest and lets the result stand.

The result